Steph Deschamps / July 1, 2022
Sonny Barger, founder of the first American group of Hells Angels - association of bikers with a sulphurous reputation - died at the age of 83, according to a statement Thursday on his official Facebook account.
In a statement posted on his Facebook page, the deceased wrote himself that he passed away peacefully after a short battle with cancer. If you are reading this message, you know I am gone.
Sonny Barger is best known as the founder of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in Oakland in 1957, one of the first branches of the motorcycle club. The man is said to have played a major role in the merger of the various branches into one large motorcycle club, which then spread across the United States. The deceased became the club's figurehead and remained so for decades.
The Hells Angels are known for their long history of violence and crime, and Sonny Barger did not deny it. He has written several books in which he talks about the criminality within the club. He himself has been jailed several times for drug and weapons offenses, among others. In 1988, he was sentenced to five years in prison for plotting to kill five members of a rival club and blow up their meeting place.